Out of the Park
by Clara Barton
Summary: Duo takes Wufei on their first date, only... Wufei doesn't realize it's a date. My 100th Gundam Wing fic, for Color Coated.


A/N: For Color Coated, who wanted a 2x5 awkward first date with some batting cage action.

A/N 2: Fic #100!

A/N 3: Actually, this is dedicated to all of the wonderful people who take the time to review any fic of mine you've read over the years. Thank you so, _so_ much for taking the time to tell me that you enjoyed something. It really does have a huge impact on my motivation to keep writing.

A/N 4: As always, thank you Ro, for all the amazing support and for the beta!

Warnings: language, AU, angst?

Pairings: 2x5, 1x3, 4xR

 _Out of the Park_

"Red one or the blue one?" I held up both shirts, one in each hand, and looked to my best friend for help.

Said friend, however, didn't even bother to glance up from his Biochem textbook.

"The black one," he said, running his highlighter over a line of text.

"I'm not _holding_ a black one, Ro," I hissed, and he looked up with a frown.

"Why not? It's your best color."

"Black? Black is my best color? What am I, a funeral director?"

He smirked a little at that before returning his attention to his book.

"No, but you're _comfortable_ in black."

That was true, and with a sigh, I turned back to my closet. I shoved the two shirts back in and searched through the admittedly large selection of black.

"You think a button up?"

"Where are you taking him?"

I was gratified that Heero was at least _pretending_ to be interested.

"Batting cages?"

Heero made a noise, and I turned to look at him.

"What?"

"Nothing," he shrugged, and went back to his work.

"No - not nothing. _What_?"

He shrugged one shoulder, but of course he didn't look up at me.

"This is your first date with him, and you're taking him to the batting cages. That's… unexpected."

"You say that like it's a bad thing!"

"Duo, it's _Wufei_. The only thing he wants to break a sweat over is arguing."

That - was true enough.

"Yeah," I agreed. "But he said he'd never been - we were talking after class the other day and… you know, I thought maybe he'd… it'd be something we could do together. I could teach him how to do it."

Heero snorted.

"Good luck with that."

I sighed and turned back to my closet, suddenly thinking maybe this _was_ a bad idea. Maybe _all_ of it was.

"Go with the henley - your arms will look great when you show him how to hold the bat."

Heero's words took a little of the weight off of my shoulders, and I gratefully pulled out the suggested shirt and put it on.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning around.

He looked up and nodded, a slight smirk on his lips.

"Yeah," he agreed.

I let out a breath and smirked.

"Think I'll sweep him off his feet?"

Heero's lips twitched.

"That, or something."

I didn't want to dwell on the _or something_.

I grabbed my wallet and keys, then looked at my phone. Almost six. He would be here any-

There was a knock on the front door of the apartment, and I grinned.

"You could not be more obviously in love with him," Heero muttered. He picked up his book and highlighter and followed me out of my room, back into the one he shared with Trowa, his 'keep Duo from freaking out and blowing this before Wufei even has the chance to punch him' duties - as Trowa called them - over.

"Good luck," Trowa called out as I walked past. He was naked, on their bed, as unashamed of his nudity as I was embarrassed by it, and I muttered something about _decency_ under my breath before opening the front door.

Wufei stood on the other side and, as always, my breath caught a little as I looked at him.

His hair was pulled back, as it always was, but he must have been a little careless putting it up - a few strands were loose, framing his cheeks and making me itch to reach out and tuck them behind his ears. He had on his glasses, which made me grin - he must have been reading and forgotten to take them off.

"What?" he asked, suspicious of the look.

"Nothing," I shrugged. "You look nice."

That made him frown, as he looked down at himself, at the navy sweater and khakis he had on - had been wearing earlier, when we had been in class together.

"So do you?" It came out as more of a question than an actual compliment.

But I was willing to work with that. I grinned and closed the door behind me, and gestured towards my car.

"I thought, um, we could go give the batting cages a try? And then grab dinner at Usual Suspects?"

Wufei frowned again, but he followed me to my car and got into the passenger seat.

"Are Trowa and Heero joining us at the bar?" Wufei asked.

Usually, the four of us spent Friday nights celebrating surviving another week of our final semester in college by going to the bar just down the road from our apartment, Usual Suspects. And usually, especially as we got closer and closer to freedom and graduation, we drank enough that Wufei ended up crashing on our couch instead of risking the drive back to his own apartment.

"Er, no. They're doing… their own thing," I waved vaguely in the direction of the apartment before starting the car up.

It had been hard enough to convince myself to work up the courage to ask Wufei out in the first place - to stop him after class that afternoon and ask if he minded if, tonight, instead of all of us going out, he and I just did something together. I did _not_ need to deal with Trowa and Heero all smug and superior and judgy at the bar later.

I looked over and saw Wufei frowning ahead at the road and I wondered what that meant.

He had, after all, _agreed_ to this.

I put my focus back on the road, but I couldn't help nervously drumming my fingers against the steering wheel.

"So… your thesis revisions almost done?" We still had six weeks until the final defense of our undergraduate history papers, but if _I_ was in the process of revising my paper, I was willing to bet Wufei was too - or that he was already finished.

"Almost," he leaned into the seat and sighed before slanting a look at me. "Would you mind looking over it?"

I almost drove the car off the side of the road.

"You want _me_ to look at your paper?"

He gave a soft chuckle that did all kinds of things to me, not of them very helpful for driving.

"Yes, I do. You got into Stanford for grad school, so I know you aren't completely without merit."

I knew he was teasing me, but still…

"You know, Berkeley's only an hour away," I pointed out, referring to _his_ grad school.

He gave me a soft smirk.

"Don't tell me you want to be roommates and live somewhere in between?"

I did, of course. The kind of roommates that shared a single bed, but that _might_ not be the best thing to come out and say on our first date.

We had known each other for four years, ever since freshman orientation when he had tripped and fallen, scraping his knee and bleeding all over the place, and I had stopped to help him, despite his angry protests that he didn't need _my_ help. We hadn't become friends immediately - it had taken half a semester of suffering through US History together before he _finally_ decided that I wasn't as offensively self-absorbed as the rest of the class and agreed to study for the final exam with me.

I'd always found Wufei attractive, but as freshmen he had been dating someone - some asshole, in my mind, who didn't spend as much time visiting Wufei as he should have, and they broke up over the summer. Of course, by then _I_ was dating Heero, and that lasted until winter break, when we finally admitted that while the sex was _fun_ , we both found it way too easy to stay mad at each other for days on end and felt no need to apologize. So we backed off, became friends, and a few months later he started dating Trowa. And then, just when I had finally worked up the nerve to ask Wufei out, we learned that he was involved with a grad student, and I knew there was no competing with that, so I resigned myself to distant longing and friendship.

Until, of course, Wufei ended things with his grad student last month and my stupid, stubborn hopes were rekindled. It had taken me this long to ask him out - and I probably would have waited longer if Heero hadn't forced my hand and told me to ask Wufei out or _he_ would _accidentally_ tell Wufei I was in love with him the next time he was drunk.

I wasn't sure if he would do it - but considering that Heero was the kind of guy who, when drunk, had no problem doing a strip tease in public, it wasn't a risk I was willing to take.

So, here I was, on my first date with Wufei, the man of dreams, and he seemed… thoroughly nonplussed.

"Why the batting cages?" he asked as I pulled into the parking lot at Sports Galaxy.

"Because you've never done it," I shrugged.

He got out of the car and gave me a look.

"You're hoping to humiliate me."

"No!" I rushed to assure him. "No, I just… I thought it would be fun. I just… I dunno. I thought I could show you how to do it and…" I trailed off, fully aware that it sounded like I was pitching the kind of date from a romcom. Of course, that _was_ how I'd gotten the idea.

"You're such a jock," he muttered, rolling his eyes, but he was smiling, just a little bit, and I had to grin in return.

Wufei had never been impressed with my athleticism - if anything, he held it _against_ me that I was at school on an athletic scholarship.

But he had, over the years, mellowed from telling me I was wasting my time _tossing a ball_ _around_ to, just a few weeks ago, coming to see me play in a home game.

"How does this even… Am I dressed okay?" He looked between his own clothes and mine with a frown.

"You're fine," I assured him. "There's just a machine shooting the ball at us, you don't have to do anything but hit it."

He snorted. "Yes. That sounds so very, very easy."

"I mean, if _I_ can do it…" I teased, knowing the challenge would inspire him.

And it did.

I paid for an hour, even though I wasn't sure we would go for that long, and picked out a few bats for us, wanting to give Wufei a few options.

"Don't forget a helmet," I nodded to the rack that he walked past, completely oblivious. "We don't want to spend the rest of the night in the ER."

He gave me a look that was part irritated, part worried.

"You want it to be tight, but not too tight," I instructed, as he started pulling down helmets.

He sniffed the lining of one, as if to make sure it was clean, and seemed relieved when it only smelled like disinfectant. I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything.

Instead, I watched him put on a helmet that was _way_ too big. He looked adorable, and I couldn't help but grin.

He scowled at me, and I nodded towards one row.

"Toss me one of the larges, will you?"

He did, and I put it on my head and waited for him to find the right fit.

"You might want to take your hair down - it's probably making them fit weird," I suggested.

Wufei sighed and reached back to pull out his ponytail, letting his hair fall around his shoulders and face in a silken wave that took my breath away.

"What?" he demanded, when he noticed me staring.

"Nothing," I lied. "Just- nothing."

He flushed and turned away, picking up a medium helmet and shoving it onto his head.

"This one is fine," he muttered.

"Great. Um- this way."

I led the way to the last pitching cage, all the way on the end, so that he didn't have to deal with the distraction of people walking by constantly.

"So, want me to talk you through it or-"

"You do it first," he said. "I'll watch."

"Okay, sounds good." I adjusted the feed on the machine, setting it to a much slower speed than my hitting coach would _ever_ let me get away with for batting practice, but I still worried it was a little fast for a first timer.

I stepped up to the left side of the plate and adjusted my feet, dropping into my batting stance, and holding my bat high and up.

The first pitch sailed towards me, fat and slow as a beachball, and I swung my bat at the perfect time, catching it on the sweet spot, and the ball sailed to the far end of the cage.

I grinned. It always felt good to do that - even when it was just practice, just for fun.

I lined up for another, sent it sailing in the same direction as the first, and kept going until, I realized with a guilty start, that I had completely forgotten about Wufei.

I stepped away from the batter's box and looked behind me, where he stood behind the safety net, and saw that his cheeks were red.

"Um, sorry, I… got distracted," I admitted.

"It's fine," he practically growled.

I walked over to the machine controls, stopping it so that balls wouldn't go flying past while we traded places.

"Want to give it a try?" I asked.

He looked skeptical, but when I held out my bat, he sighed and stepped into the cage.

"So, the first thing you-"

"I can manage," he cut off my instructions, irritated.

I rolled my eyes, fully prepared for Wufei to take a ball to the head before he hit one soundly, and stepped back.

"Okay, we'll do it your way," I agreed. I turned the machine back on and stepped out.

He was clearly trying to imitate my posture, his legs spread wide, but his weight wasn't balanced quite right, his grip on the bat too high and-

The ball came flying towards him and he backed away from it, tripping over his own feet and falling down.

"Fei-"

"Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not laughing!" I assured him, and he looked back to make sure I wasn't lying, and his tense face eased a little when he saw my neutral expression.

As much as I loved being right - especially as much as I loved proving Wufei wrong - seeing him fall on his ass wasn't _that_ amusing. Okay, it was plenty amusing, and if our friends had been there, I probably would have laughed. But I knew the quickest way to ruin tonight was for Wufei to feel humiliated.

I stepped into the cage and turned the machine off.

"Can I- pPlease let me help you?"

I held out my hand and, with an angry sigh, he let me pull him to his feet.

"Fine," he growled, and I had to grin.

"Show me your batting stance again," I suggested, and watched him get back into the awkward position.

"Okay," I stepped closer to him, putting one hand on his waist to pull him back. I heard him suck in a breath. "Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you."

"It's fine," he said, his voice a little breathless, and I felt my mouth go a little dry.

"Shift your legs, just a little, like this," I moved my left leg between his, gently pushing his own left leg out a little. "And you want to be on the balls of your feet, not flat."

He shifted, following my instructions.

"Good, good. Okay, now your hands." I let my humor come through here, because he held the bat just like someone who had only ever _seen_ a baseball bat being held, and not like he had ever touched one before.

I put my hands over his, and I couldn't help but feel a thrill at being this close to him, at having him in my arms, even if it was for as innocuous a reason as teaching him how to properly hold a bat.

"Like this," I said, moving his hands into the right position. "Feel the difference?"

"Yes." There was a catch in his voice.

"Are you okay?"

"You're… very close."

I stepped back immediately. "Sorry, I…"

He turned around to look at me, his cheeks red.

"I wasn't complaining, just explaining."

I grinned at that, and he smiled, just a little, in return.

"Want to give it another try?" I gestured towards the machine.

Wufei sighed and shrugged.

"Sure."

I stepped away, letting myself admire the way his ass filled out the khakis, and then turned the machine back on. I didn't step out of the cage, in case I needed to intervene, but I kept out of the way.

"Almost," I said, trying to be encouraging, when he missed the first pitch.

He muttered something under his breath, and I had to grin as I imagined what it was.

He missed the next pitch, and the next, and on the fourth, it was clear he was frustrated.

"I'm going to help you out," I told him, before stepping behind him, wrapping my arms around him, and putting my hands over his.

It was difficult, was awkward as hell to move _his_ body and mine, but the machine was pitching so slowly that we managed to catch the next pitch, just barely.

"Fouled it off," I told Wufei. "Let's go for a line drive next."

We managed a better hit, and I let myself appreciate his lean body, the flex of his muscles against mine.

"Okay, that was kind of a weak grounder to first, and we definitely got thrown out," I admitted.

He snorted and I chuckled, relieved that he was relaxing.

The next time we managed a decent hit and I cheered.

"Alright! Line drive right down center field - we'll at least make it to first, maybe second if we want to risk it."

"Do you _always_ do a running commentary?" he asked.

"Only when it's for something good," I assured him, giving his hands a squeeze. "I'm going to let you try it on your own, okay?"

"Okay."

I stepped back and he adjusted his body a little, standing forward, and I realized he had been leaning against me. I grinned, thinking that this hadn't been a bad idea at _all_. What other first date activities would let me be so close to him?

He connected with the next pitch, fouling it off.

"Another foul. Chang's clearly trying to work the count here."

He chuckled and swung at the next pitch.

"Oh, and look at that - a fly ball to third base and - an easy out."

The next hit was even better.

"That's a stand-up double - Chang's showing some real potential here."

On the next pitch, his bat connected with a solid _thunk,_ and the ball sailed to the far wall of the cage.

"And he hits a homerun! The crowd goes wild! Chang single-handedly wins the Pennant and the Dodgers are going to the World Series!"

He turned to look at me, offering a mock scowl, his eyes dancing, and I grinned back.

Until I remembered we were in a batting cage.

"Wufei!"

He moved, just barely, and caught the pitch on the side of his head, on the edge of the batting helmet.

I slapped the emergency stop on the pitching machine and dove towards him as he sank to his knees.

"Shit, Wufei, Wufei, are you okay?"

I pried off his helmet and ran my fingers over his scalp, frantic and furious with myself.

"I'm so fucking sorry. I distracted you, and I-"

"Duo, I'm fine," he pushed my hands away. But he _would_ , I thought angrily, remembering the day we had met.

"How does your head feel? Your vision? Can you see okay? Does your head hurt? Do you have any floaters? Is breathing-"

"I said I'm _fine_!" Wufei shoved me back. "Jesus, Maxwell."

"Sorry," I said, sheepish and relieved. He seemed pissed at me, for hovering - but that was a standard Wufei reaction. "I just… you know, don't want to spend the rest of this date in the ER."

"Date?"

His brow was furrowed, his lips pursed, and he was looking at me like I was crazy.

"Um…"

"This is a _date_?" He sounded angry, sounded _offended_.

"Yes?" Why did that feel like the wrong answer?

He got to his feet, leaving me on my ass, looking up at him. That was a first.

"You took me to the _batting cages_ for a date?"

"Well, and Usual Suspects - I mean, I was _going_ to-"

"Playing catch and going to the same bar we go to every weekend is _not_ a date."

"Okay, well, we're not playing _catch_ , Wufei. We don't have any gloves and-"

"Did you seriously think this was _romantic_?"

"Yes?" Once again, I knew that wasn't the right answer.

He made a frustrated sound and ran a hand through his hair.

"You are unbelievable. You are-" He started to pace, and I knew that wasn't a good sign. I remembered our junior year, when he had been an RA, and had set about reducing a pair of freshmen to tears for daring to have a single tealight in their room.

"Cute? Charming?" I offered.

His glare turned arctic.

"An idiot," he corrected. "A sports-obsessed idiot."

"You were having fun," I had to point out, finally getting to my feet because I was starting to feel like an idiot.

Standing, I was back to being three inches taller than him, and he had to tilt his chin to keep glaring at me.

"Until my _brains_ were almost splattered on the ground by that death machine," he gestured angrily towards the pitching machine.

I couldn't help it. Calling the pitching machine, which had been lobbing balls at all of forty-five miles an hour, a death machine, was hilarious.

My lips twitched, and before I could get myself under control, I was laughing, loudly.

And Wufei - Wufei huffed and folded his arms over his chest and tapped his foot, impatiently waiting it out.

"I'm sorry." I had to wipe tears from my eyes and struggle to catch my breath. "It's just- Fei, kids hit balls going that fast. It's not- it's not a _death machine._ "

His lips twitched, and I saw it, before he forced his mouth into a scowl - a grin.

I finally pulled myself together and drew in a deep breath.

"Look, I'm sorry you didn't think this was romantic. I just… I thought it would be a chance to, you know," I gestured with my arms, "be close to you and have fun and…" I shrugged. Heero had been right - this had been a bad idea.

Wufei sighed.

"You wanted me to enjoy the thing you enjoy."

I nodded miserably.

"And you wanted to feel me up."

That brought my head up, and I saw that he was smirking at me.

"Well…" I grinned. "That, and check out your ass. You sure can fill out a pair of khakis, Chang."

He blushed, but straightened his shoulders.

"I fill out _everything_ ," he informed me snarkily.

I chuckled. "I'll bet you do."

We stared at each other, and it was obvious to me that, even though Wufei hadn't known he was agreeing to go out on a date _before_ , he was definitely interested in one _now_.

"So… I won't take you to Usual Suspects. Somewhere more romantic. Somewhere-"

"Oh, just shut up and kiss me, Duo." Wufei sounded exasperated, and I smirked. It was always dangerous to rile him up, but sometimes, like now, the results were worth it.

"I dunno," I pretended to consider. "Our first kiss in a batting cage? Seems a little-"

He didn't let me finish. Instead, he closed the space between us, wrapped his arms around my neck, and pulled my mouth down to his.

I was still smirking, and he was still scowling, but when our lips met, we shifted, expressions softening as we fell into each other. He was soft and hard, and he felt so damn well against me.

His lips parted, just the slightest bit, and I took advantage of it, rubbing his lower lip with mine and then sucking it into my mouth, just a bit, and he shivered against me.

When we eased away, I felt a little dizzy, a little giddy, a little like I was floating, and I knew I was grinning like the idiot he always said I was.

"How was that? Romantic enough for you?" I teased.

He nodded, his cheeks pink.

"Homerun. Or a single. Whatever's better-"

"Homerun," I chuckled. "It was a homerun."

-o-


End file.
